We Want to See YOU in a B3 Ad!

Posted by | No Comments | Read More / Add Comment

Are you ready for your close-up?

As many of you already know, we attend the Bead&Button show each year and have a half-page ad in the program that lets attendees know who we are and encourages them to come check us out. This year, we want this ad to be focused on the people that make us who we are. That’s where you come in!

We are looking for quotes and photos to feature in this ad and other potential marketing materials, including print ads in magazines, our blog, online ads, website, etc. If you would be interested in participating, here’s what we need:

QUOTES
Share a B3 highlight! If you had to give a 1-2 sentence review of Blue Buddha, what would you say? You can make it a general impression or more specific (talking about a product or service we offer that you love). Try to keep it short or let us know if it’s okay to edit if you make it longer.

PHOTOS
Betsy-tuesdaySend us a picture of you with something (or more than one thing) you made using Blue Buddha products. It’s important that your item use ONLY B3 products just because we don’t want to get into an false advertising messiness. Please send us headshot-style photos that show your face as well as the piece(s) very clearly. Selfies are fun but it’s probably better to grab a friend to take your picture for this one. *wink* Photos should be 300dpi and at least 900px wide.

Please submit your quotes and photos as soon as possible—production deadlines are creeping up on us :) Email them to us at [email protected]. Any questions? Let us know! Thank so much for your help—we can’t wait to see your shining faces!

Help Us Customize the April Maillers’ Choice Kit!

Posted by | 2 Comments | Read More / Add Comment

Below you can vote for the kit we will release in April! subscribe-MC

Love Maillers’ Choice? Join the club! Subscribe and you’ll automatically receive every Maillers’ Choice kit in your mailbox each month. Also, there’s been an update for Maillers’ Choice subscribers: As of March 2014, instructions for each month’s kit are FREE!
_________________________________________________________________________________________

We’re looking ahead to April, so that means it’s time for you to help us customize next month’s Maillers’ Choice kit!

KIT-ZEELA-ALUM-300pxWe’ll be featuring Zeela, a Half Persian 3-in-1 variation enhanced with colored AA jump rings. Half Persian 3-in-1 is actually half of the round Full Persian. It can be tricky to get started, but once you master it, the weave flies along.

This design is one of Rebeca’s. She explained, “The Zeela variation shown here is named for my cat. As an avid cat person, I’d always wanted to name a weave after one of my cats. Zed and Apollo were already taken as weave names, so this weave is named after Apollo’s daughter, Zeela. However, she seems rather unimpressed by the honor.” votenowbutton

Two versions of the kit will be available—copper and aluminum. (The sample pictured here is aluminum with pink and violet AA rings.) Click here select your favorite AA colors for each kit.

 

Help Us Choose the March Maillers’ Choice Color

Posted by | No Comments | Read More / Add Comment

Tapered Helm ChainYou know what they say about the best laid plans, right? Well, that’s the case with Beaded Fire Wyrm—what was supposed to be February’s (and then March’s) Maillers’ Choice kit. We gave it our best shot, but the rings and beads just wouldn’t lay right. Beaded Fire Wrym—while it’s an awesome weave—is fickle, and even the slightest variation in either the rings or beads will make it less-than-amazing. We don’t want to send out a project that won’t turn out perfectly, so sadly, we have retire it (at least for now).votenowbutton

Instead, the March Maillers’ Choice kit will be Tapered Helm Chain Necklace, designed by B3’s Full-Spectrum Filler & Inspectionista April Hannah Llewellyn. This project is especially great for beginners who want to take on a little more of a challenge by following a pattern closely and using multiple ring sizes.

AA samplesThis necklace kit will come in aluminum, with an AA color accent (our sample here is violet). Vote now to help us choose what color kit we’ll send out for March! The color options are black, purple, yellow, violet and blue.

 

 

 

DIY Jewelry Using Pantone’s Color of the Year: Radiant Orchid

Posted by | 2 Comments | Read More / Add Comment

PMSchip

Here in Chicago, we are digging out of MORE snow and can’t seem to imagine a world where we don’t have to put on a parka just to take out the trash. Because we are surrounded with white snow, gray slush and even grayer skies, to say that we are eagerly anticipating spring would be an understatement.

Well color us happy to see Pantone announce their Color of 2014—Radiant Orchid. This lovely blend of fuchsia, pink and purple gets our creative juices flowing and feels like a promise that warmer days are just around the corner. (They better be; otherwise we’re moving to Hawaii.)

Our love of this hue shouldn’t come as a surprise. Here are just a few of our favorite kits with purple or violet AA rings.

Pantone Radiant Orchid inspiration projects

Coiled Japanese Cross Diamond Pendant

Basic Coiled Choker

Dragon’s Eye Pendant

Rapid Track

 

 

Even if colored metal isn’t your thing, you can add an a bit of eggplant elegance to your piece with crystals or seed beads. Pantone Radiant Orchid inspiration beads and crystals

Tell us: What do you think about Pantone’s choice of Radiant Orchid as their color of the year? (You can read more about how they make this decision here.) Are you you dreaming of springtime, dyed eggs and blooming hyacinths yet? Or is that just us? :)

Watch. Make. Take! Celebrate National Craft Month With Us!

Posted by | No Comments | Read More / Add Comment

Makers-DayC’mon. Do you think we’d pass up an opportunity for crafty fun? Nope :)

To celebrate National Craft Month, this Saturday, March 8, more than a dozen makers will invite the public to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse at what they do at a special event: Maker’s Day: Watch. Make. Take! The artisans will explain the process behind their work—and many will give the public a chance to try it for themselves through make & take projects!

The sessions—from sewing to chainmaille jewelry to paper folding to lampwork glass—will run on a rotating schedule from 11 am to 6 pm here at Blue Buddha Boutique (1127 W. Granville in Chicago). All activities are family friendly and suitable for beginners. Admission is free. Most projects are free; a few have a modest fee to cover materials (under $5).

ALL-DAY EVENTS: 

ZeroLandfill Chicago – Make & Take: Painting on Laminate Chips/Tile Magnets

Blue Buddha Boutique – Make & Take: Chainmaille Zipper Pull or Earrings

Chicago School of Shoe Making & Leather Arts – Make & Take: Get Your Leather Working Skills Started (3-4 Projects to Choose From)

Organic Headshots – Photobooth with Costume Accessories

SPECIALTY EVENTS:

11:00 – 1:30 – Meandering Design and Letterpress by Lydia – Make & Take: Stamping, Heat Embossing and Embroidery
11:00 – 2:30 – Astrida Naturals – Make & Take: Bath Salts
1:00 – 5:00 – Drawn With Fire – Demo: Wood Burn
1:00 – 5:00 – April Llewellyn & Greta Bach – Make & Take: Flexagons! Paper Folding A One-Page Book
1:00 – 6:00 – Cre8Time – Open Crafting: Finish or start a crafty or hacker project! (Participants must bring their own materials and tools.)
1:00 – 6:00 – Blue Buddha Boutique – Demo: Anodizing a Metal Called Niobium
2:30 – 6:00 – Edgewater Workbench – Demo: 3D Printer
2:30 – 6:00 – Christina Pei – Demo: Lockpicking
3:00 – 6:00 – Leslie Rosario – Make & Take: Pink is the New Black – Basic Wire Wrap
3:30 – 6:00 – Laura Rodriguez – Make & Take: Soy Lotion Candles
4:00 – 6:00 – Everlasting Fire Studio – Demo: Lampwork Glass

The event is jointly sponsored by the Chicago Craft Mafia (of which Rebeca is a member) and Blue Buddha Boutique. Maker’s Day is held on March 8 to coincide with the Cre8Time movement of the Craft & Hobby Association.